At the Sign of the Bawdy Moogle
by splitseconddecision
Summary: HIATUS. In which we have strippers, rockstars, college, a soon-to-be sabotaged wedding, alcohol, and lots of gay boys. Akuroku, RiSo, KaiSo, Cleon, Zemyx, Naminell
1. Chapter the First

Title: At the Sign of the Bawdy Moogle

Summary: In which we have strippers, rockstars, college, a soon-to-be sabotaged wedding, alcohol, and lots of gay boys. Akuroku, RiSo, KaiSo, C/L, Zemyx

Rating: M for offensive language and adult situations

Disclaimer: Not my sandbox. I just play in it.

…

Chapter the First

…

"That sucks," Hayner said. He'd always had a way with words, Roxas thought ironically, throwing his bouncy ball at the movie poster on his wall and catching it as it returned.

"No shit. She's not right for him," Roxas replied. He threw the ball with more force than necessary. It bounced back and hit Hayner right between the eyes. "Sorry," Roxas muttered as Hayner jumped around, pressing a palm to his forehead and spewing a string of curse words. Once his roommate had calmed himself, Roxas continued. "He's only nineteen. A year older than us. Can you imagine getting married next year?"

"Can't say I can," Hayner said lightly. "But then again, he and Kairi have been attached at the hip since we were in middle school. It was really only a matter of time before they decided to get hitched."

Roxas gave him a sidelong stare, chucking the ball at the wall again. "Still," he continued, catching the ball in his right hand and juggling it to his left, "did he have to pick _me_ to be his best man? I mean, Cloud's older, right? And it's not exactly as if I support it." Hayner shrugged.

"Who knows how Sora's mind works? You're closer in age though, right?" Roxas sighed and rose from his bed.

"Whatever," he muttered. "I'm going to the Moogle. Want to come?"

"I've got bio homework," Hayner said, making a face. Roxas nodded and grabbed a windbreaker from his closet before leaving the room.

The Bawdy Moogle was a quaint place, Roxas thought. He'd spent the entirety of high school hanging around there with his friends – and Sora's friends, and Cloud's friends. Cid Highwind, the owner, had been a friend of their father's before he passed away. Cid always offered a sympathetic ear, especially to Roxas, who was the most withdrawn of the three.

Now that he was a college student, it seemed to Roxas that he had even more troubles to get off his chest.

Especially the Sora thing. Sora was the middle child – a year older than Roxas, four years younger than Cloud – but he certainly acted like the youngest… until now, that is. Now, he had decided, he was in love with Kairi Umino, and Kairi Umino alone, and would be for the rest of his life. So what did the dumbshit do? He _proposed_.

And being the sappy romantic she was, Kairi (nice girl, but a little dense) said yes. Roxas could see this entire thing headed for disaster. It was a train wreck waiting to happen. They were only nineteen, for crying out loud – nine _fucking_ teen. How could they _possibly_ know what they wanted in life?

It was with these turbulent thoughts chasing around his head that he pushed open the door to the Moogle, the pleasant tinkling of the bells on the door soothing him slightly. Cloud was here, he noted – but busy.

Roxas raised an eyebrow as he passed his older brother, curled up in Leon Leonhart's arms as they sat in one of the booths.

Quite busy, indeed.

Cid was at the counter, as usual, arguing with his barmaid, Yuffie, over the TV channel.

"This is a _pub_, Kisaragi! People come here to watch _blitzball_, not your fluffy little soap operas!"

"It's not a soap opera, you stingy old man, it's _prime time drama_. It's the most popular thing on TV right now… Sephiroth Jenova _himself_ is produci –"

"Blitzball! And that's fuckin' _final_!"

"Aw, but Ci-_id_…" Ignoring Yuffie's whining, Cid looked up at Roxas, who slid into one of the barstools and placed a handful of munny on the counter.

"A pint of the good stuff, Cid," Roxas ordered fatalistically. Cid rolled his eyes and sauntered over to the freezer behind the bar, pulling out a pint of cookie-dough ice cream. Roxas caught it as Cid tossed it to him.

"You sure you don't want any of the alcohol, kiddo?" Yuffie chirped, leaning her chin on her palms as she examined the blonde. "You look like you could use it."

"There will be no fuckin' underage drinking in _my_ pub, Kisaragi," Cid snapped, shooting the self-proclaimed ninja a glare. He turned to Roxas, face softening slightly. "What's up, brat?"

"Sora," Roxas growled, violently digging into the ice cream with his spoon.

"Ah," Cid said, and waited. Roxas took a few more bites of ice cream. That's what he liked about Cid – the man knew when _not_ to push.

"…He's being rash about this whole engagement thing," Roxas managed at last, tapping his spoon against the side of the pint.

"_I_ think it's romantic," Yuffie offered, stars in her eyes. "Think of what their kids will look like!" Roxas choked on the spoonful of ice cream he had just put in his mouth.

"Yeah, _sure_ it's romantic," Roxas sneered, once he had recovered. "How _romantic_ it will be when they're drawing up the divorce papers once they've figured out that no, they don't like each other as much as they thought, and in fact, forcing such intimacy that early actually ruined any chance they had of remaining friends."

"Let Sora make his own mistakes." Roxas looked over at Cloud, who had sauntered over. Leon still had his arm draped around Cloud's shoulders.

"You can't tell me you _approve_ of this!" Roxas said, disbelieving.

"That's not for me to decide," Cloud said, stealing a bite of Roxas' ice cream. "Sora's an adult, Rox. He needs to figure things out for himself now."

"But, Cloud! Him marrying Kairi might be a huge mistake! Marrying someone is not exactly a decision you make lightly! What if their relationship goes wrong?"

"Then they'll get a divorce," Cloud said calmly. "It's not the end of the world, Roxas." Roxas was silent for a moment, then sighed.

"Whatever. I'm still against this."

Cloud shrugged. "And Sora still wants you to be his best man." Roxas returned to his ice cream. Cloud and Leon sat beside him at the bar and ordered a pair of drinks. Yuffie attempted to change the channel without Cid noticing. Cid chewed her out when he finally did.

It was good to know that even when everything around him was changing, at least the Bawdy Moogle stayed the same. Roxas let the "Sora problem" slip from his mind and an almost invisible smile come to his face.

…

The nightlife of Twilight Town was legendary. Not only were the regular citizens true party-goers, but the town was host to Twilight Institute of Higher Learning – the biggest college campus this side of the Olympus Coliseum.

Thus, needless to say, all of the nightclubs in town got their fair share of business. But it was Club Destiny that took the cake. And what an extravagant, lucrative and elitist cake it was.

This was why Demyx Myde was so excited. Axel massaged his temples as the blonde guitarist/sitarist chattered on about their gig. He shot a glare at the door of their dressing room, through which Larxene and Marluxia had disappeared ages ago, leaving him with he-who-would-not-stop-talking.

"This is _so_ awesome, Ax! Did you know that Destiny gets about two thousand people a night? _Two freaking thousand_, Ax! We're playing for two thousand people! This could be our big break! We could get scou –"

"I _know_, Demyx," Axel growled, his eyes promising murder if the blonde didn't shut up. Demyx didn't notice the glare, but fortunately for him, Larxene and Marluxia chose that time to return from their little errand. "_Fin_ally," Axel said, catching the beer bottle Marly tossed to him.

"We're on in about an hour," Larx commented idly. "I can't believe we managed to swing this gig."

"My brother's got a bit of pull," Axel replied.

"I'll say!" Demyx said, taking a swig of his beer. The blonde made a face. "Ugh. I think I'll stick with water today."

"Good idea," Marly said with a smirk. "Remember what happened last time you had alcohol before a performance?"

"We agreed never to speak of that!" Demyx gasped, staring at Marly with wide, betrayed eyes. The other three band members snickered as Demyx pouted and pulled a bottled water from the mini-fridge in the corner.

Larx held her beer bottle high. "To The Oblivion Organization. May Axel's brother get us many more sweet gigs."

…

The performance went well, Axel thought. Well enough that Auron Spira, the club's owner and manager, asked them to return for a repeat performance the following week.

"Thank god we didn't let Dem drink alcohol," Axel remarked offhandedly, wincing as his voice cracked. Marly smirked at the redhead.

"Your vocal chords are shot, man. Give 'em a little rest, would ya?" Axel grinned and nodded.

"Huh," Larx said, slipping her electric bass back into its protective casing. "You found a new way to make him shut up, Marly." Axel flipped her off, causing Larx to give him a look that clearly said "keep that finger up any longer and I'll cut it off."

Demyx was already fast asleep in one of the chairs, his guitar case in his lap. Marly shook his head and somehow maneuvered the blonde over his shoulders, before turning to the other two.

"Let's head home then. We'll need to practice all this week if we're going to blow their socks off in the next performance."

…

A/N: It's been ages since I've written fanfics, and I've never written KH _or_ slash before… so sorry if it sucks. This idea was flitting around in my head and wouldn't leave me alone… it doesn't help that I've been reading a bunch of slash lately.

Ohyeah. And Axel, Dem, Marly, and Larx are all 21 (or older, in Marly's case). In case you were wondering. And yes, the name of the band is The Oblivion Organization. I know it's lame, but there it is.

Anyways, please review. Reviews make me happy. Happy means I want to write. Wanting to write means I don't leave you hanging for inordinate amounts of time because I have better things to do. :D

And next chapter will be longer. I promise.


	2. Chapter the Second

Title: At the Sign of the Bawdy Moogle

Summary: In which we have strippers, rockstars, college, a soon-to-be sabotaged wedding, alcohol, and lots of gay boys. Akuroku, RiSo, KaiSo, C/L, Zemyx

Rating: M for offensive language and adult situations

Disclaimer: Not my sandbox. I just play in it.

…

Chapter the Second

…

It was ten o'clock by the time Roxas arrived back at his dorm, his mind slightly more at ease due to the ice cream-induced daze he currently enjoyed. Most of his dorm mates were still in the common room, biding their time until they felt the need to trail off to bed.

The dorm was quite large, as far as dorms went – six bedrooms, a common room with a kitchen area, and two bathrooms, one for each gender. The boys took the three rooms on the right wing. Hayner and Roxas shared one, of course; their childhood friend Pence James and a boy called Arc Thomas shared another. The last boys' room was occupied by Arc's friends, Luneth Badr and Ingus Fayth.

The girls took the left wing. Another of Roxas' group, Olette Gainsborough, shared a room with Refia Trepe. The second room belonged to two sorority girls who were hardly ever around – Jasmine something-or-other and Meg… well… Roxas never could remember their last names. The final room on the girls' side belonged to the resident advisor, Namine Umino.

Sora's future sister-in-law, if the brunet boy got his way. Roxas tried not to think about it.

At first glance, you wouldn't think Kairi and Namine were even related, let alone twin sisters. Kairi was boldly redheaded where Namine was platinum blonde. Kairi was a gossip and a bit of an airhead where Namine was demure and creative. They even moved in different social circles, Kairi preferring to hang with Sora's friends, while Namine socialized more often than not with Roxas' group. There was one thing the girls had in common, however – they both had infectiously kind personalities.

And they could read people like no other.

"You look like you're feeling a lot better," Namine said with a smile as Roxas walked into the common room and sat next to her at the dining table. Roxas shrugged uncomfortably and grabbed a slice of pizza from the box that was sitting open on the table. Evidently they'd decided to turn tonight into a movie night.

"Ice cream makes it easier to accept," Roxas offered, biting into the slice of cheesy-tomato goodness. Namine giggled softly.

"You missed quite the scene while you were out. Luneth finally asked Refia to go out with him. She said yes, obviously – been dropping hints for weeks – and Arc and Pence decided to throw a little party in celebration." Roxas grinned.

"About time. Now all we need is for Hayner to grow a pair and confess his undying love to Olette, and the unresolved sexual tension will finally dissipate."

"Joy," Namine said dryly, returning to her sketchbook with an ironic little half-smile on her face. Roxas leaned over her shoulder to examine her drawing.

"Who's that?" he asked, mildly interested. The sketch was of a young man with light hair styled to stand straight up at the front. Even in the profile view, Roxas could make out the tribal-esque tattoo that framed his eye. Namine "hm"ed softly, adding a few shadows under the drawn man's chin.

"A guy from my Baroque art class. His name is Zell something… I thought he would be an interesting person to draw," she said with a smile, pulling back from the paper and smiling with satisfaction.

"Interesting is one way to put it," Roxas said with a grin. "I can't help but notice that he is quite good-looking for a guy and most definitely _your type_, considering he's suffering through a Baroque art class." Namine couldn't hide the blush that rose into her cheeks, although she made a valiant attempt.

"Hush, you." Roxas laughed as finished up the slice of pizza, and then stood.

"I've got a 9 AM class, so I need to get some rest. Try not to be too loud, Namine, you're supposed to be a role model."

"Says the boy who sings Disney songs at the top of his lungs when he wakes up at two in the morning and can't fall back asleep."

"That was _one_ time!" Roxas objected as he walked into his room. Hayner was absent – most likely hanging out in Pence's room next door. The blonde sighed deeply, shutting the door behind him before he flopped down onto his bed. He grabbed a well-worn (well-loved) book from his nightstand, intending to read until he fell asleep with the book open on his face.

No such luck.

_"Back to the street, down to our feet, losing the feeling of feeling unique –"_

Roxas groaned, slamming his book back down on the nightstand as he glared at his phone, currently serenading him with the dulcet tones of Panic at the Disco. Sora's signature ringtone. After a moment of internal debate, Roxas decided that ignoring his older brother for much longer was immature, and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

_"Hey Roxas!"_

"Sora. What do you want?" Okay, so maybe Roxas wasn't _that_ mature.

_"I was thinking we should start to plan my bachelor party… are you busy?"_ Roxas glanced forlornly at the book that called to him, wincing at the thought of sacrificing it to talk about plans for a party he didn't want to happen.

"No, I'm not busy, Sora…"

_"Great! Well, I was thinking…"_

…

"This was supposed to be an interesting class," Axel grumbled, slouching in his seat at the back of the lecture hall. Demyx grinned from the seat next to him, in the process of folding a piece of notebook paper into a cootie-catcher.

"It's a _philosophy_ class. Of course it's boring," Demyx said. He finished off his folding and began writing fortunes on the flaps.

"What I don't get," piped up another blonde from Axel's other side, "is how this shit counts for math credit."

"Zell, have you even attempted the homework?" Demyx asked wryly. Zell snorted.

"Hell no."

"Hence, you don't get it," Axel smirked. Demyx had forced Axel into sitting down and doing the homework with him the night before. If Axel ever saw another proof again, it would be too soon.

Zell Dincht, Demyx Myde, and Axel Lee went way back – Zell and Demyx were cousins, in fact. They'd all decided to take Intro to Logic together, against the advice of their respective academic counselors. After all, Zell and Axel had shared a chemistry class the previous term…

The chem lab would never be the same again. And the professor and three of the TAs had resigned.

Axel returned to doodling in his notebook; aside from stick-figure effigies of the Logic professor which were screaming in agony as graphite fire consumed them, scraps of self-written lyrics adorned the light blue lines.

"Fuck, this class is such bull," Zell sighed, raising his feet onto the back of the seat in front of him and ignoring the aggravated look the freshman sitting in it shot at him.

"Like you've got anything better do," Axel smirked. Demyx was finishing off the cootie-catcher.

"I'd rather be in my art history class." Zell scratched his cheek, fingers lingering over the edges of his tribal-design tattoo. Axel and Zell had both gotten drunk one night, and challenged each other to a game of chicken. It somehow ended up with both of them getting facial tattoos – Axel's a set of upside-down teardrops on his cheeks, and Zell's the vine-like monstrosity that adorned his left cheek and temple. Axel still swore that his tattoos were in no way, shape or form inspired by those of his older brother.

Not many people believed him.

"_Art history_?" Axel asked incredulously, looking up from his doodles and lyrics to give Zell a dubious look. Zell huffed.

"Zell, pick a color!" Demyx said, holding out the cootie-catcher.

"Er, red. It's not as girly as it sounds. Bunch of paintings of naked chicks, and… stuff."

"Uh…_huh_," Axel replied, not for a moment sounding as if he believed the man.

"Number!" – "Six." – "You know, Ax, it could be that girl whose name he's been drawing hearts around in his notebook," Demyx said cheerily, opening and closing his cootie-catcher. Zell reddened as Axel let out a surprised laugh and grabbed said notebook from Zell's grasp.

"Hey – !"

"Na-mi-ne, huh?" Axel grinned. Zell stiffened and turned away from the redhead, folding his arms in a huff. Miffed at being ignored, Axel returned the notebook. "Tch. No fun, Zell."

"Bully," Zell snapped, stuffing the notebook into his backpack.

"Another number, Zell!" Zell gave the blonde musician a Look.

"Do I _have_ to?" Demyx's eyes got rounder and shinier as he processed Zell's reluctance.

"You – you don't w-want to –"

"Fine! Fucking three," Zell said quickly, attempting to preclude the impending pouting. Dem's pout was dangerous. Demyx happily flipped open the flap for number three.

"Ooh! Zell's got romance in his future!"

It was too difficult for Axel to smother is guffaws and maintain his coordination; he fell out of his chair, clutching his stomach with one hand and clapping the other over his mouth.

…

Pale fingers ran through silky silver hair, the owner blinking his turquoise eyes at his reflection in the mirror. Riku inspected himself, flexing his abs and chuckling to himself. In his line of work, looking good was compulsory. His own ethereal beauty was a stark contrast to the dinginess of his studio apartment.

Stretching, Riku glared at his pig sty of a dwelling. It definitely wasn't easy being a college student with no parents and no means.

Riku's parents had died a scant two years ago, just as Riku was turning eighteen and getting ready to leave for college. It hadn't bothered him much – his parents were never around really, and seemed more preoccupied with each other and their jobs than wasting their time caring about him – but it did pose quite a problem when it came to the high tuition costs posed by the Twilight Institute for Higher Learning.

The government paid for a bit of it, of course, but TIHL was a private college; what the government offered barely covered the tuition of state schools. Scholarships made up most of the rest of the cost, but there was still an extra 5000 munny per quarter that Riku didn't just have lying around.

To be fair, Riku had _tried_ working elsewhere; he'd _tried_ plying his older brother for cash. But on-campus jobs just didn't pay well, and his brother was a bitch who couldn't care less whether Riku got a decent education.

"Why should _I_ give you anything?" Sephiroth had sneered. "There's nothing in it for me. If you need money so badly, go be a stripper."

Riku doubted Sephiroth had actually intended for the younger Jenova to take his advice seriously. He took to the idea with a vindictive pleasure, managing to find the classiest strip club in Twilight Town and getting a job almost as soon as he walked through door. So now, big-shot TV producer Sephiroth Jenova had to live with the shame of having a stripper as a little brother. Ha. Serve him right for refusing to lend Riku a bit of cash.

A quick glance to the analog clock hung haphazardly on Riku's wall told him that it was time to go to work. With a sigh, he pulled a shirt on, grabbed his wallet, and left.

The evening air was crisp. Expected, for November, but in a neighborhood where the buildings were barely standing, the crispness tended to turn into bitingly-cold-and-seeping-through-the-cracks-in-the-masonry-ness. Riku was glad he'd be spending the majority of the night at the strip club, where they had central heating. Ah, blessed climate control.

Not that Riku's neighborhood was _that_ dilapidated. It was just a tad on the outdated side. And it had a slight gang problem. It didn't matter much to Riku. If you kept your head down and your eyes on the sidewalk, no one here would look at you twice.

Riku took a shortcut down an alley and emerged in the Tram Commons – the exact center of the city. You could get anywhere in Twilight Town from the Commons; all you needed to do was latch on to the railing of one of the trams and go with the flow. Eventually, the tram would coast near enough to your destination that you could jump off, cut between a few buildings, and end up exactly where you needed to be.

If you knew what you were about, that is. Riku pitied the poor tourists who heeded the directions of the urchins that plagued the downtown area; he'd had to lead more than one group of Wonderland vacationers out of the labyrinthine alleyways. The yuppies from Traverse Town and Hollow Bastion tended to fair a bit better than those from the backwater areas like Deep Jungle and Wonderland, but not by much.

Riku had grown up in Hollow Bastion, himself; it wasn't until he was applying for colleges that he even thought about living in Twilight Town. He, too, had fallen prey to the convoluted twists and turns of Twilight's inner city – at least until he had managed to befriend a Twilight native, who had told him the secret of navigating those twists and turns like a local.

Since then, he'd felt more at home in the mazelike depths of the city than he had anywhere else.

Riku came presently to his destination, a building placed on the corner of a prominent intersection. Trinity was dim and smelled slightly of cigarettes, but Riku had grown attached to it. His coworkers were amusing, his boss was reasonably laid-back, and the clientele mostly kept their hands to themselves. The club was one of the smaller and more exclusive clubs in Twilight Town; not nearly as high-profile as Club Destiny, but it ranked somewhere in the top-ten.

They _loved_ Riku here. He was the silver-haired Adonis, so far out of everyone's league that it was almost a religious experience to be noticed by him. He had his own pedestal here, and it wasn't merely the stage upon which he danced for the masses.

He nodded to Rude as he entered the club. The bouncer acknowledged him, but said nothing, maintaining his menacing aloofness. Riku made his way to the dressing rooms at the back, whre the performers got ready for their shows. Two girls were lounging there already: Penelo and Ashe Dalmasca, the sisters who shared one of the most popular (and provocative) acts that Trinity had to offer.

"You're late, Riku." Riku turned and shot a winning smile at his boss.

"Sorry, Balthier, my history lecture ran overtime." The blond man rolled his eyes.

" Yeah, yeah. Tch. College students… by the way, kid, I've got a bachelorette party lined up in need of a stripper. You gonna take it?"

Riku shrugged, giving Penelo a high five as the girls sauntered out of the dressing room to start their dance.

"I guess so. Tips?"

"It's for one of those rich whores in the Tram Commons district, so they should be pretty good."

"I'm in," Riku said, giving Balthier a nod before he began preparing for his act. Things were looking up.

…

A/N: You guys honestly have no idea how close I came to **losing this document**. My computer crashed before I had saved, and I picked the wrong autosave from the document recovery. Luckily, I have mad computer skillz and managed to recover the recovered file with a system restore. :D I am _that pro_. Yes indeed. I was totally pissed off at myself and almost cried when I realized I'd got it back. I was not looking forward to rewriting half of this…

Roxas' ringtone for Sora is **Panic at the Disco's new single, "Nine in the Afternoon,"** which has been playing in my itunes nonstop. Go check it out on Youtube!

By the way, I love ehow dot com. They have everything there, including details on "how to become a stripper." I nearly choked when I found it.

As for Demyx's pout… visit **ladychimera's deviantart** if you don't believe me. It's DEADLY.

**As for you kiddos who alerted this story and didn't review**, please do so this time. : Generally, people judge a story by how many reviews it has… so if it's not worth it for you guys to review, is it really worth it for me to write? I hope it is… I rather like it. So, even if it's just some quick little "update liek now, n00b" review, I'd appreciate the thought. ;P (Although I appreciate critique much more.)

Plus, I gave you an extra-long chapter. Chyeah. Can we say incentive? I'm planning on **increasing chapter length** by half until I get to 15-20 pages per. First was 4 pages, this one is 6… so next should be 9. : If you review, that is.

Thanks to room mate/ beta Becky, without whom this chapter wouldn't be in existence. It really helps your update schedule if your beta sleeps in a bed five feet away from yours. :D

**Please review:3**


	3. Chapter the Third

Title: At the Sign of the Bawdy Moogle

Summary: In which we have strippers, rockstars, college, a soon-to-be sabotaged wedding, alcohol, and lots of gay boys. Akuroku, RiSo, KaiSo, C/L, Zemyx, Naminell

Rating: T for offensive language and adult situations (changed because it's not _that _bad yet, and readership seems to be suffering for it)

Disclaimer: Not my sandbox. I just play in it.

…

Chapter the Third

…

Zell stole a quick glance at the blonde sitting slightly to his left and two rows ahead, paying minimal attention to the professor's dissertation on the erotic undertones in Bernini's sculpture of St. Theresa. Namine Umino, after all, was much more interesting to look at.

She was drawing on her notes, occasionally pausing to write down something the professor said. Zell's eyes traced the curve of her neck, savoring the way her hair draped and collected into a pool on her desk as she bent over her notes. His breath caught as she tucked a few golden strands behind her ear. As her tongue darted out to moisten her lips, Zell could have sworn his heart stopped.

Zell Dincht was lovesick, plain and simple.

He tore his eyes away from his unknowing tormenter and returned to his notes as the professor moved on to the next piece. He was pitiful, and he knew it. He'd never even said two words to the girl. He sighed as the professor brought the lecture to a close, closing his notebook (which contained not so much actual notes as it did Namine's name) and capping his pen. He took his time organizing his stuff in his book bag, drawing out his cell from the front pocket and checking for messages.

He idly wondered, as he hefted the bag over one shoulder, what he would do for lunch – Dem and Axel were probably practicing for their show at Destiny on Friday night, so he was on his own.

He was vaguely debating the pros and cons of getting a burrito from The Usual Spot – the nearest dining hall – when he tripped over one of the shallow stairs that led to the lecture hall exits…

… And directly into the love of his life. The demure blonde girl let out a soft cry as her books slipped from her arms. They both froze for a moment, Zell staring at up her with growing horrified embarrassment and Namine returning the gaze with an expression of… concern? Remembering his manners, Zell shook himself from his daze and began apologizing profusely.

"Man, I'm sorry! I should have been watching my feet! Here, let me help you with your books!" Zell scrambled to pick up the fallen textbooks and notebooks, well aware that his face was gradually becoming the same shade of red as Axel's hair. Or, that's what it felt like, anyway.

Books collected, Zell rose and held them out to Namine, who was still staring at him as if he'd grown an extra head. She turned her heartbreakingly blue eyes to the books, and then began to giggle as she accepted them.

"Thank you, that was very kind of you," she said. Zell waved it off, still blushing.

"No, seriously, let me… uh, buy you coffee or something… make it up to you, you know?" Namine tilted her head slightly, her lips forming a small 'o' in surprise.

"It was just an accident," she said. "No harm done – I wouldn't want you to waste dining munny on me." If it had been possible for Zell's face to get any redder, it likely would have – rejected! However, Zell was nothing if not persistent.

"It wouldn't be a waste – and, well, I could really use some company… uh… if you're not busy…" Zell winced as he spoke. Way to sound like a total loser, Dincht, good job. The blonde girl smiled, however.

"Well, if you insist. I'm Namine Umino, by the way."

"Zell. Zell Dincht."

"So… The Usual Spot?"

SCORE!

…

Wednesday nights at The Bawdy Moogle were always crowded; the Major League Blitzball teams always played on Wednesdays, a moment of relaxation in the middle of the week. Roxas inhaled deeply as he walked through the door, savoring the familiar smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke. Hayner and Pence followed, teasing Olette about needing to drag her away from her homework to get her to come out with them. Olette was pouting, shooting pleading glances at Roxas (which he ignored).

"Roxas!" The blonde boy paused and braced himself as his older brother tackled him in a hug. "I haven't seen you in a week! What have you been up to? By the way, have you seen Nami? Kairi wanted to talk to her about wedding colors, and she's had her phone turned off all day –"

"Let him get a word in edgewise, Sora, jeez!" Mentally thanking the powers that be for the existence of Tidus Zanarkand, Roxas squirmed out of Sora's embrace and straightened out his hair and clothes.

He took a moment to glance around – all of Sora's crew had turned out, and Cloud's. Namine was the only person missing, it seemed.

"I actually have no idea where Namine is," Roxas said with a shrug. "She never returned to the dorm after her art history class."

"That doesn't sound too reassuring, ya," Wakka Besaid chipped in, frowning from his perch on one of the barstools. He and Tidus, along with Olette's older sister Selphie, all ran with Sora and Kairi's clique. It was somewhat odd, actually, how the Strife boys managed to attract such interesting people. Roxas supposed it had something to do with the addition of the Gainsborough girls… Olette, Selphie and Aerith had been close to Roxas, Sora and Cloud since before either set of siblings could remember.

"She'll turn up," Roxas said. Namine did disappear from time to time. Usually it was to the art studios on campus – she'd get so caught up in her paintbrush and oils that she'd lose track of time, coming home close to midnight with a sheepish grin and smelling of linseed oil.

Kairi didn't seem too concerned about the absence of her twin. The redhead was absorbed in a copy of _Bride_ magazine, a large binder and more wedding literature spread over her corner of the bar. "Sora, what do you think of lavender?" Sora cringed.

"Kairi, we've been over this… Lavender is a _girl_ color!" Kairi's purple-blue eyes fixed upon her fiancé with a vicious glare.

"I _am_ a girl, Sora!"

"Yeah, but Kairi, you'll be wearing white, right? So it doesn't really matter, does it?"

"_Doesn't really MATTER?_" The rest of the bar wisely averted their eyes from the budding dispute and each patron quickly busied himself with something else.

Roxas sauntered over to Cloud's table and took a seat beside his oldest brother, engaging him and Leon in a conversation about school and work. Once again, Roxas mused as his subconscious took in the atmosphere, everything at the Bawdy Moogle was as it should be.

It was half-past-eight by the time Namine finally walked through the pub doors, her cheeks flushed with the cold. The more boisterous of the Strife crew (namely, Hayner, Tidus, Yuffie and Selphie) greeted her with cheers and catcalls; the rest offered a smile and a wave. Kairi promptly seized her sister (and future maid-of-honor) by the arm and dragged her over to her little fortress of bridal magazines and color swatches before Roxas could even rise to greet her.

Sighing, the youngest Strife rose and, taking his life in his hands, drew near the cloying grasp of wedding-planning purgatory.

"… So I was thinking definitely lavender or pink for the bridesmaids' dresses and the groomsmen's tuxedos," Kairi was chattering to Namine. Roxas made a face at the thought.

"Kairi, if you make the tuxes lavender _or_ pink, I'm going to the wedding naked," Roxas told her. The redhead whirled to glare at him, but Roxas held strong. "I mean it, Kairi, pick another color. Light green – light blue even."

Kairi huffed, pouted, then sighed. "I suppose periwinkle wouldn't be too bad. It's close enough to lavender…"

"Plus, periwinkle looks good on everyone in the wedding party," Namine offered. "Especially you, Kai. It complements your hair."

"You think so?" Kairi asked with a happy giggle, returning to reading about popular honeymoon destinations. Sora, who had been silently dying inside at the thought of a lavender wedding, looked like he was about to pass out with relief.

"So, Nami," Roxas began, "where've you been all day? Art studio?" The blonde girl suddenly became very pink in the cheeks.

"Ah, no actually. I had lunch with a friend and we lost track of time talking." Roxas narrowed his eyes. Namine wouldn't be blushing if this was just any old friend. She didn't blush often. In fact, the last time she'd blushed…

Roxas smirked slightly.

"This friend wouldn't happen to have a name that starts with 'Zuh' and ends with 'ell,' would he?" he asked his fellow blonde in an undertone. He could tell by the sudden intensity of the blush that he had hit the nail on the head with that one. His smirk widened into a wicked smile.

"Tsk, tsk, Nami! Ditching your friends to go hang out with a boy! You must really like him. I should sic Selphie and Yuffie on you. They're sure to have boatloads of advice…"

"Hssst! Not so loud!" Namine shushed him, taking a panicked glance at the aforementioned girls, just in case they had heard. The girl narrowed her eyes at him. "And just for that, you get to help me."

"Help you with what?"

"He kind of invited me to go see his cousin's band with him on Friday night. I can't go alone, Roxas, I just can't!"

"Band?" Roxas asked skeptically, drawing back a little and making a face. Roxas was very picky in his music choices. It wasn't that he stuck to a particular genre; there were just some bands whose music he simply did not like.

"_Please_, Roxas?" She was giving him the Look. Roxas cringed, tearing his eyes away. Unfortunately for Roxas, Namine's Look had a magnetic quality to it, consistently drawing his eyes back. No one could resist the Look. _No one_.

"Fine," Roxas said at last, resigned. "But I'm bringing Hayner. At least then if the band is horrible, I'll have someone to make snide remarks to."

"Perfect!" Namine said, her Look turning into a mischievous smirk. "It'll be like a double date!" Roxas rolled his eyes at the insinuation.

"If you wanted that, you should have asked Sora and Kairi to go with you."

"They're too busy planning the wedding. I don't envy them – I'm having enough trouble planning the bachelorette party!" Namine said as she and Roxas removed themselves from Sora and Kairi's presence. (The two were now arguing over whether to have the honeymoon in the Land of Dragons (Sora) or in Agrabah (Kairi).) "Kai wants to go clubbing, but the only place in our budget is Oblivion, and you _know_ what Oblivion is like." Roxas winced; Oblivion was on the seedier side of Twilight Town, and the girls were more likely to get raped there than to have a good time.

"I've been having a bit of trouble with Sora's bachelor party, too," Roxas said. "He clearly has no idea what he wants to do."

"Isn't it obvious? Every bachelor party needs a stripper!" Tidus butt in, throwing an arm over Roxas' shoulder. Roxas rolled his eyes.

"Kairi would kill me if I hired a stripper," Roxas said, giving the older blond a pointed glare. Tidus chuckled.

"Who says she has to know?" Roxas rolled his eyes and shrugged off Tidus' arm.

"We're not hiring a stripper, Tidus," he growled, Namine nodding along. Tidus huffed and stalked off to the bar, attempting to wheedle a beer out of an uncompromising Cid. Roxas sighed.

"We'll probably end up having a Smash tournament or something, knowing Sora," he said ruefully. Namine giggled.

"As long as you're having fun!"

"Yeah, yeah. So where is this concert thing, anyway?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you! It's at Club Destiny," Namine said with an excited clap of her hands. Roxas raised his eyebrows. Club Destiny was _elite_.

"And you're allowing me to bring _Hayner_?"

"Bring me where?" Roxas and Namine turned as the blond army brat approached.

"We're going to Club Destiny Friday night," Roxas said. "Nami's got a date and she's to chicken to go on her own." Namine frowned and cuffed Roxas' shoulder.

"Fine by me. Means I don't have to go to that Bio study session."

"Perfect! It's a date!" Namine chimed. Roxas merely shot her a dry glare.

…

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Zell had pseudo-math (Logic) with his cousin, Demyx, and his close friend, Axel. While Axel had known Zell for only about a year – blowing up the chem lab tended to be a bonding experience (no pun intended) – Demyx had known him for their entire lives, and thus found it much easier to notice that something was… different about Zell on that particular Thursday afternoon.

Zell fidgeted as Demyx's ocean-colored eyes sized him up. Axel merely raised an eyebrow as Demyx leaned over the folding desk to inspect his cousin on the redhead's other side. Trying as hard as he could to ignore the piercing gaze, Zell scribbled down notes on the professor's monologue.

After a moment, Demyx smirked. A moment more, and the smirk became a grin. A final moment and Demyx leaned back into his seat, looking smug. Axel shot him a questioning glance.

"He asked that girl out – what was her name? Namine," Demyx explained.

Zell choked on his own saliva.

Axel snorted, turning to Zell with an evil grin, which the young man was studiously ignoring. "Holding out on us, eh?" He glanced back at Demyx. "What do you s'pose that means, Dem?" Demyx hummed to himself and returned to inspecting the other blond.

Zell's eye twitched. Demyx grinned at the inadvertent signal.

"It means he didn't want us to know… which means he's probably planning on doing something with her when we're too busy to spy on him." Zell's hand, holding his pen, spasmed. "Likely tomorrow when we're playing the concert. And since he wouldn't dare miss our gig, he's probably taking her to Destiny tomorrow."

Zell heaved a sigh and let his head crash on the folding desk in front of him. Axel and Demyx exchanged a glance.

"And that?"

"Means I was right on the money. Which is surprising, because I was just making random guesses."

…

Roxas and Hayner stared at the blond boy coolly, sizing him and clearly finding him lacking. Zell gulped, avoiding eye contact and instead focusing on his conversation with Namine as the group strolled down the sidewalk leading to Club Destiny.

Namine, Roxas had decided, was worth ten of this obvious delinquent. For some reason he could not fathom, however, the girl liked him – truly, honestly _liked_ him. As they walked, the couple appeared to be drawing closer and closer, tapering off into a private conversation of whispers and giggles from Namine.

"So, what kind of music does your cousin play?" Roxas asked loudly, causing Zell to stiffen nervously and practically leap away from his date.

"Uh, well… they started off playing covers of some rock groups. Their original stuff has more of an alternative edge to it. Demyx – that's my cousin – is the guitarist, so he does most of the actual music composition. Axel writes the lyrics."

"Wait a sec," Hayner chimed in. "Axel… I've heard that name before. He go to Twilight? Axel Lee?" Zell blinked, surprised.

"Yeah, he and Dem are in one of my classes this semester."

"Wasn't Axel Lee the guy who blew up the chem lab?" Roxas asked, deadpan, one eyebrow raised in question. It was something of an intimidating sight, a skill Roxas had learned from Cloud: the "protective older brother" aura. (Even though Namine was older than him, it still amounted to the same thing.) "Professor Vexen won't stop bitching about it."

"Hey, I helped!" Zell protested with a huff. "People always give Axel all the credit…"

"You _helped_ blow up the _chem lab_?" Roxas said dubiously. If the glares he had shot at Zell before this revelation were bad, they were nothing compared to the "I-want-you-away-from-my-surrogate-sister-_immediately_" glare he was shooting the poor boy now. Seeming to have realized his faux-pas, Zell made an abortive attempt to clear his name.

"Only a little bit..." he offered. Roxas rolled his eyes.

"How can you blow up the chem lab '_a little bit_?'?"

"Will you two stop it?" Namine finally interrupted, exasperation tingeing her normally-calm voice. "We're _here_." Indeed, they had arrived – at the tail end of a long queue cordoned off with velvet ropes.

"It's going to take forever to get in!" Hayner groaned. Zell smirked.

"Maybe for the little people like these," he said with an air of slight arrogance. "You, on the other hand, are in the presence of a man with _connections_." He led the way to the front of the line, Namine's hand in his, Hayner and Roxas trailing behind suspiciously.

Zell greeted the bouncer, a tall bald man in a dark suit and sunglasses, cheerfully. "Rude, I'm with the band." One of Rude's eyebrows rose into visibility over the rims of his shades, as he inclined his head questioningly at the others with him. "And they're with me," Zell added on as an afterthought. The man sighed and disconnected the velvet rope from one of the posts, allowing the four to pass.

Hayner grinned at Zell with a new respect. "That was _sweet_! How'd you do that?"

"Well, it's the truth, isn't it? Rude knows me – I've come here often enough with Axel and Demyx." Roxas scoffed, sulking to himself. Now he couldn't even count on his best friend to keep this tattooed freak away from his "sister;" Zell had just earned the Hayner-stamp-of-approval.

"When does the band start playing?" Namine asked, voice raised slightly over the music. The dee-jay was playing something with a strong bass, and somewhat angry lyrics. Roxas approved, oddly enough.

"Not 'til ten," Zell replied. "They wait until people actually start arriving to send out their headliners."

"Why'd we come here so early, then?" Roxas grumbled, inaudible over the music, as he glanced at his wristwatch. Half-past eight. Predictably, he didn't get a reply, as Namine started to drag a compliant Zell out to the dance floor and Hayner made a beeline for the bar. As usual, he would be trying to convince the bartender he was of age. He would probably end up with a glass of water and a reproving glare for his troubles.

With no particular desire to watch Zell and Namine get all lovey-dovey on the dance floor, or to get kicked out for trying to buy alcoholic beverages, Roxas merged into the crowd. He went with the flow for a while, bobbing his head to the music. This dee-jay wasn't bad at all – the variety of the playlist, Roxas decided as the previous sugary pop song ended only to be replaced with an odd techno beat, made it so much more interesting than the typical clubs which only played badly-written hip-hop.

Roxas allowed a faint smile touch his lips as he swayed to the beat, allowing his eyes to close. This club wasn't so bad, Roxas decided. And maybe Zell wasn't so bad for bringing them here. Namine liked him, right? She was usually a pretty good judge of character…

Roxas bumped head-on into another body, his blue eyes shooting open only to discover… someone's torso? Roxas' gaze trailed up… and up… this was ridiculous, he wasn't _that_ short… until they finally locked with a pair of green pupils that regarded him with a mixture of surprise, amusement, and some emotion Roxas couldn't quite place.

The green eyes belonged to a pale face framed by wild red hair – a gravity-defying mess far worse than that of all three of the Strife brothers put together. It was an interesting face, angular and somewhat exotic. The angles were accentuated by a pair of upside-down-tear-shaped tattoos on the cheekbones.

Roxas refused to admit to himself that he liked the face.

"Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going," Roxas said, sighing.

"Nah, neither was I," the redhead replied, the surprise gone from his gaze (though the amusement and the something-else were still there.) "You don't come here often, do you?"

"Ah… no," Roxas replied, confused as to why this redhead was speaking to him instead of moving on to go grind against some girl.

"Didn't think so. What's your name?"

"Roxas," he said, after a moment of hesitation. He kicked himself the next moment, hoping that this guy wasn't some psycho who would follow him home and kill him in his sleep. The redhead's lips curled into a smirk.

"Rrrrrroxas, hm?" the man said, rolling the 'r' as he tried the name out. "Mind if I call you Roxy?"

"_Yes_," Roxas replied with a glare. This seemed to amuse the stranger even more.

"Ooh, a fiery one," he chuckled. Then, his voice lowered to a husky purr as he leaned in close to Roxas, their noses practically touching. "I like fiery." Roxas was frozen, his eyes wide, as the taller pulled away, laughing. "See you around, _Roxy_."

As the redhead sauntered off, Roxas realized what the something-else in the stranger's eyes had been.

Lust.

…

Axel slipped back into the dressing room at 9:30 – plenty of time to spare before "curtain," but Larxene was bitching at him anyhow.

"You should have been back _twenty minutes ago_!" the blonde bassist snapped at him as Axel began fixing his hair. "We're never going to have time to figure out another song to do for an encore _now_!"

"Chill, Larx," Marluxia called from his chair in the corner. "We'll just play one of our old covers if we need a _second_ encore. Which we won't, as this is only a club – not the Twilight Town Amphitheatre." Larx shot him a glare and returned to chewing Axel out.

The redhead didn't really care. He had a tendency to float around the crowd before his shows (few as they were) – to get a feel for the crowd, he said, but mostly it was to get away from Larxene's bitching and Dem's hyperactivity and Marly's cynicism and… well.

It was for stress relief mostly.

And that cute little blond boy he'd stumbled upon today? _So_ worth Larxene's wrath. Sure, the kid had played hard-to-get, but once little Roxy realized Axel was the front man of Twilight Town's best up-and-coming band, he'd be like putty in his hands.

For he was Axel "Love-'em-and-Leave-'em" Lee, Sex God, and what Axel wanted, Axel got.

Axel smirked, ignoring Larxene's nagging, and continued getting ready for the show.

…

A/N: Whew. There it is, **nine pages**. 3500+ words, in one chapter. I'm doing my part, so **please review**?

What'd you think about Roxas and Axel's first meeting? Good? Bad? And what about the whole "Naminell" aspect of it? Woo, new crack pairing. XD

And there's another big hint as to how a certain character will tie into the story in this chapter… can you spot it? ;P


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